System and method for supporting mobility and multipath packet delivery in ip communications and computer networks across nat and firewall boxes

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a system and method for supporting (1) mobility in IP (Internet Protocol) networks and (2) multipath packet delivery when the communication paths between a group of senders and a group of receivers traverse one or more NAT and Firewall IP boxes. While at first sight mobility and multipath packet delivery may appear to be two orthogonal or somewhat independent problems, the present invention shows not only that they are intimately related but also that with the correct framework in hand, both problems can be naturally solved.

1 . A communication system comprising:
 a mobile terminal adapted to selectively use the resources of at least two networks to communicate with a corresponding terminal via IP connection;   an IP node comprising an interception technique; and   an IP layer having a cooperative stack (costack) being inserted next to or at the save level thereof;   wherein the costack generates a new control plane packets or manipulates existing data plane packets.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the costack module is disposed in the mobile terminal, the corresponding terminal, or a middle box. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the costack can be implemented in any legacy IP node 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a SYN packet carries no control information, which instead is piggybacked on a succeeding ACK packet. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the control plane packet is embodied into a SYN packet. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the mobile device moves across different networks or when communication paths are set across NAT and firewall boxes. 
   
   
       7 . A method comprising the steps of:
 providing a mobile terminal adapted to selectively use the resources of at least two networks to communicate with a corresponding terminal via IP connection;   providing an IP node comprising an interception technique; and   providing an IP layer having a cooperative stack (costack) being inserted next to or at the save level thereof;   wherein the costack generates a new control plane packets or manipulates existing data plane packets.   
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 7  wherein the costack module is disposed in the mobile terminal, the corresponding terminal, or a middle box. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the costack can be implemented in any legacy IP node 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 7  wherein a SYN packet carries no control information, which instead is piggybacked on a succeeding ACK packet. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 7  wherein the control plane packet is embodied into a SYN packet. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 7  wherein the mobile device moves across different networks or when communication paths are set across NAT and firewall boxes. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the interception technique comprising the steps of:
 generating special packets;   intercepting the special packets,   processing the special packets; and   dropping the special packets; thereby no actual connection is initiated by the upper layer protocols.   
   
   
       14 . A communication system having an interception technique comprising:
 means for generating special packets;   means for intercepting the special packets,   means for processing the special packets; and   means for dropping the special packets; thereby no actual connection is initiated by the upper layer protocols.